WebSphere Application Server V7.0: Concepts ... - IBM Redbooks

1.2 WebSphere Application Server overview
WebSphere Application Server is the IBM runtime environment for Java-based
applications. This section gives an overview of the options and functionalities that
WebSphere Application Server V7.0 offers:
► Application server purpose
► Evolving Java application development standards
► Enhanced management
► Broader integration
► Advanced tooling and extensions
1.2.1 Application server purpose
An application server provides the infrastructure for executing applications that
run your business. It insulates the infrastructure from hardware, operating
system, and the network (Figure 1-1). An application server also serves as a
platform to develop and deploy your Web services and Enterprise JavaBeans
(EJBs), and as a transaction and messaging engine while delivering business
logic to end-users on a variety of client devices.
Application
Application Server
Hardware, Operating System, Database,
Network, Storage …
Figure 1-1 Basic presentation of an application server and its environment
The application server acts as middleware between back-end systems and
clients. It provides a programming model, an infrastructure framework, and a set
of standards for a consistent designed link between them.
WebSphere Application Server provides the environment to run your solutions
and to integrate them with every platform and system as business application
services conforming to the SOA reference architecture (Figure 1-2 on page 5).
4 WebSphere Application Server V7.0: Concepts, Planning, and Design